My little boy is 3 years old, will be turning 4 in 3 months. I always knew he was smart, but recently he started reading 3 and 4 letter non-complex words phonetically, without being taught. None of his other friends are even close to doing this. I do read to him, but I dont think more than an average child, and I dont point out the words when reading. He has been fascinated with letters and numbers since he was 20 months old and learned all the letters. He then learned all their sounds and finally started putting them together to spell and read words. He can hand write all the upper and lower case letters and can write words like his name, mommy, stop, daddy, and now lots of 3 and 4 letter non-complex words as well. He can recognize all numbers up to 100 and will even say 1100 is eleven hundred. He is fascinated with space - loves planets and knows all their names and facts about them. He can do simple addition and subtraction. He starts up conversations everywhere we go with anyone he meets. The other day in the store he went and sat beside an older lady and said so how is the weather? And then started telling her all about what we were doing, and all about him. He talks ALL the time. He has a strong sense of right and wrong and wants things to always be done the RIGHT way. If it is done the wrong way, for example the alphabet out of order, he gets very upset. He dropped his nap at 2.5 years old completely (though there were days without a nap before that) and it takes a LONG time for him to wind down to sleep at night - will not stop talking. The only way I can get him to stop talking and go to sleep has been a pacifier. I am supposed to get rid of it by now, but I can not stand how long it takes for him to sleep without it. He made up a game where he pretends to be a letter and we have to guess which one. Everything is about letters and numbers. He gets sooo excited if there is a program on or he sees a sign with interesting letters or numbers. His language has always been very good for his age and better than his peers. He has never been to school or been taught formally in any way. So I looked it up online and am really resonating with the posts about gifted children. My son has a lot in common with the kids and I am finding helpful information on how to deal with some of his antics. However, if he is gifted, what does this really mean? Do I do anything different? He is going to kindergarten next september. Do I have to worry about him not fitting in (he makes friends easily though since he is so social and friendly) or getting easily bored? Should I have him tested? And if so why? what difference does it make? Will he be treated differently with that label put on him?
In the meantime I am glad I found this forum. I read the post on sleep and a few other posts and I sooo relate. So nice to know there are others going through the same things
In the meantime I am glad I found this forum. I read the post on sleep and a few other posts and I sooo relate. So nice to know there are others going through the same things